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Georgia National Guardsmen called to the front lines in the fight against COVID
Members of the Georgia National Guard have been deployed to help hospital medical staff have more direct contact with COVID patients.
GEORGIA - Health officials say we may be reaching the peak of the omicron surge, but it's too soon to let our guard down.
According to the COVID-19 daily status report from the Georgia Department of Health, there were 16,700 reported cases in the state Thursday and nearly 300 people were hospitalized with the virus.
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These staggering numbers have been overwhelming hospitals. They've been working to deal with the surge of patients for more than a month.
That's why to help Gov. Brian Kemp has deployed the Georgia National Guard again to hospitals across the state.
Major General Tom Cardin of the Georgia National Guard tells FOX 5, just like the previous call up, hundreds of guardsmen and airmen are helping hospital medical staff spend more time with patients.
The National Guard can help with administrative work or help control traffic in emergency rooms to relieve health care workers of those jobs. The guardsmen call the work rewarding.
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"They have us kind of spread out everywhere, so we're helping in every aspect of the hospital. And I just think of everyone has the same kind of goal in mind, just to try and help out in any way possible," Sgt. Jerome Gilbert said.
The general says many times these guardsmen are from the very communities that they are serving. And for some, this is their third call to duty in the fight against COVID-19.
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